Environmental Sustainability in East Asia: Policies and Technological Output in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan
Posted: 13 Aug 2009 Last revised: 18 Dec 2013
Date Written: 2009
Abstract
Environmental problems but especially those related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions present huge collective action difficulties, as the sources of the problems are local while the effects are trans-national. Efforts to control pollution can also limit rapid growth, but it is claimed here that application of the newest advancements in GHG-related technology can mitigate some of these costs. This paper examines the potential for the combined mobilization of science and technology (S&T) on the one hand, and global and regional coordination on the other. The countries of the northeast Asian region – Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and China – are the units of analysis, where patterns of GHG emissions and S&T efforts vary, and where there is a tendency for nationalist resistance to non-S&T forms of cooperation. Given the national/trans-national effects of environmental hazards, the greatest positive impact for these countries individually and regionally rests in regional research projects such as the APPCDC and technology transfer programs like the CDM.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation